# Install khard with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman

Console carddav client. Version 0.21.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-16. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install khard.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:khard
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install khard
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add khard
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: khard from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install khard
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: khard from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install khard
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: khard from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#khard
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/kh/khard/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S khard
```

  Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: khard from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:khard
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.21.0
- **Source summary:** Console carddav client
- **Homepage:** <https://khard.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-16T20:11:18Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- khard (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.21.0
## Project history and usage

khard is a Unix-console address book for local vCard files. It reads, creates, modifies, and removes contacts, and is designed to cooperate with mail clients, text editors, vdir synchronizers, and VOIP clients.

### Project history

The upstream changelog records khard 0.1.0 on September 18, 2014 as the initial release. Early releases added a new project structure, Twinkle integration, alot support, nickname and web/contact fields, mutt-oriented email workflows, XDG_CONFIG_HOME support, YAML contact templates, and safer writes.

khard 0.11.0 on July 17, 2016 made the project Python 3 compatible and improved vCard 3.0 and 4.0 support. Later releases added generated documentation and man pages, stricter config validation, query syntax, pyproject-based packaging, and in version 0.18.0 on December 10, 2022 moved the project home on GitHub from the original scheibler namespace to lucc.

### Adoption history

khard grew in the same terminal PIM ecosystem as khal and vdirsyncer. Its README says it is packaged for multiple distributions and published on PyPI, and the batch metadata records packages for Alpine, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, Nix, Arch, and Ubuntu.

The project was started by Eric Scheibler and later maintained by lucc, with multiple contributors over the years. That maintainer transition and the long changelog show a small but durable utility rather than a one-off script.

### How it is used

Users keep vCard files in local address-book directories, often synchronized from CardDAV by vdirsyncer, then use khard to list, search, show, edit, create, remove, and query contacts. It is commonly wired into mail-client address completion, especially mutt-style workflows.

### Why package nerds care

khard is significant as a packageable bridge between standards-based contact data and shell workflows. It turns vCard/CardDAV address books into files and CLI subcommands that can be composed with editors, mail clients, synchronizers, and dotfile-managed configuration.

### Timeline

- 2014-09-18: khard 0.1.0 initial release.
- 2015-09-05: khard 0.5.0 added merge support and XDG_CONFIG_HOME support.
- 2016-07-17: khard 0.11.0 made the project Python 3 compatible and enhanced vCard 3.0 and 4.0 support.
- 2020-04-04: khard 0.16.0 expanded documentation and built docs on Read the Docs.
- 2022-12-10: khard 0.18.0 moved the project home on GitHub from scheibler to lucc.
- 2026-06-15: khard 0.21.0 removed Python 3.9 support and fixed config skip_unparsable handling.

### Related projects

- vdirsyncer is the common synchronization companion. khal is the related console calendar program, while mutt, alot, and Twinkle are explicitly documented integration targets.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/khard>
- <https://github.com/lucc/khard>
- <https://khard.readthedocs.io/en/latest>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lucc/khard/main/CHANGES>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lucc/khard/main/README.md>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/khard/khard.conf, ~/.config/khard/khard.conf
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - khard - 0.19.1-5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: khard from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | address book for the Linux console | https://github.com/scheibler/khard
- Nix - khard: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/kh/khard/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - khard - 0.19.1-2ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: khard from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | address book for the Linux console | https://github.com/scheibler/khard
- apk - khard - 0.21.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: khard from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Console CardDAV client | https://github.com/lucc/khard
- apk - khard-doc - 0.21.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: khard-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Console CardDAV client (documentation) | https://github.com/lucc/khard
- apk - khard-pyc - 0.21.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: khard-pyc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Precompiled Python bytecode for khard | https://github.com/lucc/khard
- dnf - khard - 0.20.0-7.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: khard from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | An address book for the Linux console | https://github.com/scheibler/khard
- pacman - khard - 0.21.0-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: khard from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Console address book manager | https://github.com/lucc/khard


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/khard.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/khard.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph